Ok. This is kind of brilliant. While there have been a number of brands that have launched heritage collections, I’ve found a lot of them uninspiring and pretty forced. However, Cole Rood & Haan, a footwear collection inspired by Cole Haan’s 1920′s Chicago roots and taken directly from the historic archives, proves different. They have managed to update some vintage designs with modern touches and great leathers. Not only do the shoes look great but I love the way they have chosen to market and brand the collection.
The marketing campaign highlights an entrepreneurial lifestyle. They made the very wise decision to hire Todd Selby aka The Selby to shoot the campaign, which features entrepreneurs in NYC who run businesses that take old things and make them new again in a fresh and innovative way. The shoot takes place at four places: The Smile- a Cafe and Mixed-Use Concept Store, Jack’s Coffee-the inventor of the “stir brew technique,” Maryam Nassir Zadeh, an amazing boutique carrying things that are both new and old and Black Sheep and Prodigal Sons, an edgy, beautifully crafted jewelry line. By using real people in real life situations the whole line just feels more authentic. These are shoes you want to wear on your way to the studio for a day of brainstorming and bags you want to cram full with a notebook, pens, magazines and bits of inspiration you find on the street. You can see the full shoot here.
Things have been quiet on the Inclined to Create blog because the last two weeks I had the incredible opportunity to work on a great project with Nordstrom during New York Fashion Week. Nordstrom asked me to scour the city for the most excitingtrends, after parties, people and places and then blog about it in their New York Street Scene Section. Pretty amazing project.
On Septmeber 10th, 13 countries will celebrate Fashion’s Night Out, a global initiative to promote retail and celebrate fashion. This year, they created a great PSA which talks about all the benefits the fashion industry brings to New York City. “Next only to finance, fashion is the second-largest sector of industry in New York City—the headquarters of more than 800 fashion companies employing 175,000 people and generating $10 billion in total wages.”
They have also decided that all proceeds from the sale of the official Fashion’s Night Out T-shirt will be donated to the National September 11 Memorial & Museum.
They’ve planned some great events and some really exciting collaborations.
What I’m looking forward to:
Rag and Bone will turn their store into a full Irish pub complete with sawdust floors and an Irish band
BAND OF OUTSIDERS is partnering up with Opening Ceremony. The THAI TIE TRUCK will sell Band of Outsiders ties made exclusively for the evening, as well as a special thai-inspired dessert prepared by Christina Tosi of Momofuku that you can only get with your purchase of one of the ties
Kirna Zabête will have Narciso Rodriguez, Lazaro Hernandez of Proenza Schouler, Thakoon Panichgul, Jason Wu, and Peter Som on hand to debut their exclusive items for Kirna Zabête: Narciso Rodriguez photo collages, Proenza Schouler print tote bags, Thakoon one-of-a-kind dresses, Jason Wu fall 2009 fashion sketches and Peter Som’s limited-edition aprons.
About
Tara is an experienced branding and marketing strategist with a passion for building and positioning brands through storytelling, creative thinking and innovation.
